This is a wonderful article by John Brunton from The Guardian Travel from July. It is well worth subscribing to The Guardian and to The Observer Food Monthly, not just for Tuscany but for all travel. I love it. The text and the photo are all by John Brunton.

Tuscany's chianti classico wine route: top 10 guide

Between Florence and Siena, the
Chianti region is Tuscany's wine-making powerhouse. Touring the area provides a
chance to visit wine-makers for free tastings, stay at gorgeous agriturismi and
dine at authentic trattorias

What is a chianti? This
emblematic wine
is made all over the Tuscan countryside, but the historic heart lies in a
region between Florence
and Siena. In 1716, Cosimo de' Medici III, Grand Duke of Tuscany,
decreed that this region could produce what today is known as chianti classico
– easily recognisable by the gallo nero, its distinctive Black Rooster label.
The key to the unique qualities of chianti classico is the local sangiovese
grape, and right now there is a strong movement to return to the ancient
traditions of winemaking along with an eco-responsible trend towards organic
cultivation.

WINEMAKERS TO VISIT

Val delle Corti

The perfect first step to
understanding the complex world of chianti classico is to make an appointment
for a tasting at Roberto Bianchi's six-hectare organic vineyard. Roberto is a
feisty artisan viticoltore, explaining how for years winemakers were too
influenced by guidebooks and gurus, who argued that the austere sangiovese
grape needed to be offset by a small addition of "international
grapes", such as merlot and cabernet sauvignon, to sell to a global
market.

"At that time," says
Roberto, "our authentic wines were totally out of favour but the fashion
has turned, and people are beginning to understand that what is interesting
here is that each village – Radda to Panzano, Greve to Gaiole – has its own
characteristics and personality." Roberto only produces three wines, a great
vino di tavola for €6, perfect with a plate of salami, an elegant chianti
classico that is almost 100% sangiovese, and an intense riserva in the
years he feels the harvest is outstanding.
• Localita La Croce, Radda in Chianti, +39 0577 738215 ,
valdellecorti.it

Villa
Pomona

Visiting Monica Raspi you quickly
get caught up in her enthusiasm for making chianti classicos. Villa Pomona is a
typical Tuscan estate, the perfect mix of biodiversity, with four hectares of
vineyards, olive groves and woodland, a sprawling farm that includes an old
olive mill converted into holiday apartments and her tiny, cluttered cantina
crammed with wooden barrels and stainless-steel vats. Monica was born at Villa
Pomona, but grew up in Florence and trained as a vet.

However, as soon as she heard he
mother was going to sell the vineyards, she abandoned her career, did a crash
course in oenology, and has been producing her own wines since 2007. The vines
are in the process of obtaining official organic certification. She follows the
traditionalist approach, adding the local colorino grape to 95% sangiovese for
her €10 chianti classico, while the riserva is aged for 20 months in barrels
plus another six months in the bottle before going on sale.
• Localita Pomona, Castellina in Chianti, +39 055 7774 0930 ,
fattoriapomona.it

Fontodi

Rows of vineyards at Fontodi
vineyard, Chianti Photograph: John Brunton

Fontodi is the exception to the
rule that says big wineries charge for tastings, with owner Giovanni Manetti
insisting that this is just part of Tuscan hospitality, saying that "even
if people stay two hours they don't have to feel they must buy a bottle".
And he has certainly created something special here, nestled in the suntrap of
the Conca d'Oro beneath the village of Panzano. The whole farm is organic: the
80 hectares of vines and 30 hectares of olive trees. Between lines of vines he
plants barley, to help the cultivation of the grape and to feed his herd of 33
Chianina cattle, the iconic local race that is fast disappearing. He follows
biodynamic principles in making his wine, and is currently trying an experiment
going back to Greco-Roman times, using terracotta vats rather than wooden
barrels.• Panzano in Chianti, +39 055 852005 ,
fontodi.com

Giovanna Morganti is something of
an outsider in the cosy world of chianti classico. Her five-hectare estate has
no sign outside, there is nothing on her website, and you definitely need to
call first to taste the wines of what some critics hail as the future – and others
criticise for being unstable and unpredictable. Along with cult French
winemaker, Nicolas Joly, she was one of the founders of the Vini Veri
group, that developed into the influential "natural wine"
movement across Europe.

Giovanna makes just a chianti
classico, adding small amounts of the little-known local grapes mammolo,
colorino and foglia tonda to the sangiovese. It is expensive at €19, but
understandable when you see the work she puts in, both in the cantina – where
the wine ferments in open-topped wooden tanks – and tending the vineyard, which
she planted in the ancient alberelo method, with vines growing free,
resembling small bonsai trees surrounded by a jungle of wild plants and weeds.
• Localita San Felice, Castelnuova Berardenga, +39 0577 359383 ,
leboncie.it

OSTERIE AND RESTAURANTS

A Casa
Mia

Hidden away in a tiny hillside
hamlet, A Casa Mia is a brilliant discovery, a genuine old-fashioned osteria
with just a dozen tables, hearty portions of Tuscan cucina casalinga
(home cooking) at reasonable prices, and run by two lively hosts, Cosimo and
Maurizio Simoncini who share the cooking and serving. The place is packed each
night, so always call for a reservation, and although there is a printed menu,
let Maurizio reel off the dishes of the day and get caught up in his
enthusiasm.

While Tuscany has plenty of chic,
gourmet restaurants, it can be surprisingly difficult to track down a
reasonably-priced trattoria serving authentic cooking. So when a new restaurant
like the Fattoria di Corsignano opens up, it is good news for locals and
tourists alike. Elena Gallo serves a creative interpretation of rustic cucina
contadino. For wine-lovers, the good news is that the estate's excellent
wines are sold at the same price as if you were taking away, while for €35
there is a four-course wine-paired tasting menu.

Even the €10 antipasto is almost
a meal in itself, with panzanella salad, smoked ham, bruschettas of
grilled zucchini and ricotta with red pepper, a crunchy barley cake and fried
bacon with prunes. The Fattoria has elegant B&B rooms available from €90,
and Elena's husband, Mario, has planted a small seven-hectare organic vineyard,
producing not just a potent chianti classico riserva, made from 100% sangiovese
grapes, but a light Vino da Tavola at only €6, which he describes as "old-style
Chianti like my babbo (dad) used to make".
• Localita Consignano, Castelnuovo Berardenga, +39 0577 322545 ,
fattoriadicorsignano.it

VINEYARD
AGRITURISMI

Rignana

The B&B at Rignana, a
romantic estate in Chianti.

It is a dusty, bumpy four
kilometres off the main road to get to Rignana, the romantic estate of Cosimo
Gericke, situated between Panzano and Greve. His agriturismo comprises a
medieval chapel, villa, farmhouse and cantina. An olive mill has been converted
into a trattoria and there is an infinity pool – a perfect spot for sipping a
chilled glass of the winery's crisp, fresh rosato. Cosimo is a charming host,
half-German, half-Italian, resembling an eccentric Victorian aristocrat. But he
is serious about his wines, having replanted his 13-hectare vineyard when he
took over in 1999. Most B&B rooms are in the farmhouse, which has a
communal kitchen, but it can be worth splashing out a little extra to stay in
the villa, which is decorated with 18th-century frescoes.
• Localita Rignana, Via di Rignana, 15, Greve in Chianti, +39 055 852065 ,
rignana.it. Doubles €100 (in the farm),
€130 in the villa (both B&B)

Fattoria
La Loggia

It is impossible to miss the
Loggia, as high above this agriturismo is an incredible suspended garden of
giant floating terracotta vases. This fattoria produces wine and olive oil, but
the real passion of the owner, Giulio Baruffaldi, is contemporary art. He was
one of the pioneers of welcoming tourists to wineries in Chianti – opening the
agriturismo in 1986 – and has always had a programme to invite artists and run
art courses. Over the years he has amassed a fantastic collection that decorate
guests bedrooms, communal salons and are installed all over the gardens of the
farmhouse.

The rooms here are spacious and
luxurious for the price, there is a pool, and barbecue, and the friendly
director, Ivana Natali, who has been here for 25 years, is a mine of
information when it comes to recommending winemakers to visit. The winery
produce a surprising bianco toscano at only €3, while the 2003 chianti classico
is a steal at €7.
• Via Collina 24, San Casciano in Val di Pesa, +39 055 824 4288 ,
fattorialaloggia.com. Doubles from €100
B&B

Fattoria
di Lamole

Paolo Socci is one of the most
passionate viticoltore in chianti classico, and this extends not just to
exceptional traditionalist wines, but his restoration of a medieval hamlet into
a rustic agriturismo – and a commitment to rebuild stone terraces for his
vineyard, a system dating back centuries but that has all but disappeared.
Guests staying the night are made to feel like part of a big family, and have
the use of a pool, large communal areas, and comfy rooms with wooden-timbered
ceilings, plus a hearty breakfast. The cantina and agriturismo are situated in
Lamole, one of the most beautiful villages in Chianti. Book a time for a proper
wine tasting with Paolo and he may well take you off in his jeep to see some of
the seven kilometres of terrazze he has painstakingly built.
• Lamole, Greve in Chianti, +39 055 854 7065 ,
fattoriadilamole.it. Doubles €90 B&B

Dario Cecchini runs his venerable
butcher's shop like a theatre, bursting into song or looming behind a whole
roast suckling pig ready to wield a fearful-looking knife. The most famous dish
in Tuscan cuisine is the Costata alla Fiorentina, a huge T-bone steak, and
foodies from around the world come here on a pilgrimmage to place their orders.
But this is also perfect to stock up for a picnic with his wonderfully aromatic
finocchiona (fennel salami), terrines and even chianti sushi, his take
on steak tartare.

For a €20 deposit, Dario will
provide a hamper (you pay for whatever food you fill it with), and even show
you the perfect picnic spot five minutes' drive away. The Macelleria is always
crowded because Cecchini believes in local hospitality, so laid out on a long
wooden table are salami, cheeses and his trademark creamy lard infused with
rosemary, along with chunks of crusty bread and a giant carafe of red wine –
all free for whoever comes in. He also runs Dario Doc, a cheap-and-cheerful burger diner at the
back with set menus from only €10.
• Via XX Luglio 11, Panzano in Chianti, +39 055 852020 ,
dariocecchini.com